The Opening Bell: Where currencies start on Thursday, November 22, 2018

The USD is on the back foot this morning after the US Commerce Department reported durable goods orders in the month of October declined sharply.

According to the report a substantial decrease in orders for transportation equipment which plummeted by 12.2% was the major contributor to the overall 4.4% decline in orders. Economists had forecast orders to decline by 2.5% following on from September’s downwardly revised 0.1% dip.

Core durable goods orders which exclude transportation items and are monitored closely by the Federal Reserve, also disappointed with the report showing orders inched up by 0.1% in October well below the expected 0.4% increase. Septembers final result was also revised to a 0.6% decrease after originally being reported as a 0.1% increase.

The University Michigan consumer sentiment index for the month of November was downwardly revised to 97.5 from the preliminary reading of 98.3 the result shows a slight deterioration from October’s final reading of 98.3. Economists had expected the index to remain unchanged from its preliminary reading.

Following six consecutive months of decreases this morning the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported existing home sales spiked 1.4% to an annual rate of 5.22 mil in October. The increase was ahead of the expected 1.0% increase in sales and follows on from September’s 3.4% fall.

Markets are expected to take a breather today and currencies are unable to settle as the US enters its Thanksgiving holiday tonight.